Overview

• Pathan opened fire on an STF team ambushing his unregistered vehicle near Chapar in Muzaffarnagar before officers shot him dead in a retaliatory exchange.
• Investigators recovered a .30-bore Beretta, a .32-bore revolver, a 9 mm country-made pistol, more than 60 rounds of ammunition and a white Maruti Brezza without plates at the encounter site.
• A fresh FIR under the Arms Act and related provisions has been registered as police move to pursue his remaining associates and seize additional assets.
• Pathan had resumed threatening witnesses in Sambhal six months after being granted bail in life-sentence murder cases, underscoring concerns over criminal recidivism.
• The operation, based on a targeted tip-off and executed by the Meerut STF, exemplifies the UP government’s use of intelligence-driven encounters to disrupt organised crime.